Venkat, a former India selector, finds it difficult to believe that an India player likeu00a0S Sreesanth can stoop so low. “It is shameful. It is really a disgrace. Incidents like these put the whole cricket scenario under the scanner. Every action becomes suspect then,” he said.

Former selector Raja Venkat

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Venkat was part of the selection committee that had picked Sreesanth for the 2011 World Cup.

True that Sreesanth was a last minute pick, when Praveen Kumar got injured, according to Venkat he was chosen because he did have the “merit”. “He is definitely a quality bowler and at that point of time it had seemed that he would be needed in the team,” he said.

However, never had it occurred to Venkat that Sreesanth could turn out to be such a cheat. “He might have had other problems and attitudes. He might have been a little difficult to handle. But whenever I met him, he never came across to be a greedy person or a cheat who can let the country down,” he added.

“I see no reason for such action. Players these days get paid well. They are reasonably well off. Then why such greed?” asked Venkat. Maybe, that is the question that the cricket fraternity needs to find an answer to in order to put an end to this menace.